Return of the Flying Boat

Electra Aero's Hybrid Electric Commuter Plane

 

Links and References

Electra Aero

Homelessness and the New Mayor of San Francisco

New San Francisco Mayor Daniel Lurie

San Francisco Mayor London Breed has conceded the election to Daniel Lurie. Breed’s failure to adequately deal with San Francisco’s homeless problem and the associated atmosphere of crime related to it was clearly the principal cause for her defeat.  

Right wing media relentlessly used the homeless encampments in San Francisco and in California in general as propaganda to illustrate the failure of the Democratic party-- which helped to elect Trump and the Republicans.

But unless the new Democratic mayor of San Francisco--  bans people from camping out  anywhere they desire on the streets of San Francisco-- he will fail too. And the Democratic brand  will continue to be tarnish amongst America's voters. 

People camping out on the street need to go to-- licensed municipal campsites-- that provide public toilets, free food, policing and social services. Anyone caught sleeping on the streets needs to be immediately transported to such facilities. Such facilities can't simply be places to dump people but have to be routinely cleaned and maintained.

And anyone caught using drugs in public needs to be sent to a State run drug rehab center (outside of the cities) for 30 days for the first offense, 60 days for a second offense, and 90 days for each subsequent offenses. The State also needs to provide free housing in publicly owned hotels--- out side of the cities-- for individuals too mentally disabled to be employable.

Democrats need to show the nation-- that they can get the job done-- by completely clearing the city streets of people sleeping or camping out anywhere they desire. 

But Democrats also need to show compassion by providing homeless individuals with safe and clean municipal and state licensed places to reside.

Marcel F. Williams 

Natural Gas Electric Turbine Retrofitted to use Methanol

Siemens Energy's SGT-A35 gas turbine. Credit: Net Zero Technology                                  

At the RWG facility in Aberdeen in the United Kingdom, Siemens Energy and Net Zero Technology Center successfully demonstrated the operation of a gas turbine (SGT-A35) using methanol. 

The demonstration reduced NOx emissions by 80%. 3D printing was used by Siemens Energy to manufacture new components that would allow the natural gas electric power facility to use methanol (methyl alcohol). Such technology would allow any existing natural gas power plant to be retrofitted to use methanol. 

And since natural gas electric power plants have the lowest capital cost of any baseload or peak load facility, new methanol electric power plants could easily and cheaply be deployed practically anywhere.

Methanol is a liquid fuel that is much easier and safer to transport and to store than natural gas. Methyl alcohol can be synthesized from natural gas and from fracking. 

But methanol can also be derived from a large variety of-- renewable resources:

 1. the fermentation of urban sewage 

2. the fermentation of agricultural animal waste 

3. the pyrolysis of hydrocarbons from urban garbage 

4. the pyrolysis of hydrocarbons from agricultural crop waste 

5. the pyrolysis of hydrocarbons from the dead trees and fire hazardous foliage from rural forest

6. the nuclear, solar, wind, or hydroelectric production of hydrogen through the electrolysis of water synthesized with CO2 directly extracted from the atmosphere or cryocaptured by from the flu gases of a methanol electric power plants using carbon neutral methanol 

So practically every urban, agricultural, and forested  area within a country could be use to produce carbon neutral methanol.

Renewable methanol could allow countries to retrofit existing natural gas power plants to use a carbon neutral source of fuel making it easier for the world to reach a carbon neutral economy by the targeted year of 2050. 

 

Links and References

NZTC and Siemens Energy prove to reduce emissions by 80% in an alternative fuel demonstration

Retrofitted gas turbine runs on methanol with 80% less NOx emissions

Demonstration shows methanol reduces gas turbine emissions by 80%

Siemens Energy Highlights Alternative Fuels to Power Gas Turbines, Decrease Emissions, Boost Decarbonization Efforts

Ocean Nuclear Production of Green Methanol in Remote Japanese Territorial Waters